Kait Carson – Death by Sunken Treasure

This week, I’m hosting author, Kait Carson

Kait learned to read at the age of two. Had to, her father wouldn’t read her Prince Valiant in the Sunday comics. Her two favorite books are still Dr. Seuss’s A Fly Went By and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Dr. Seuss was the first book she remembers reading, and the Alcott introduced her to Jo March, and exclamation points. Both changed her life.

Kait’s working life proved just as varied. A seasonal job selling fine china and glassware in the Washington, DC area soon morphed into a move to New York City and a job with a high-end Italian gold jewelry import company. The call of the tropics took her back to Miami and a job working for one of Miami’s most colorful characters as he and his Dallas Cowboy owning partner developed a national restaurant chain. A stint with the fledgling Miami City Ballet provided more grist for the journals. That led to years working with estate planning law firms and lessons learned in the front lines of litigation. She wrote five novels during this time, honing voice and characterization, learning scene and setting. The books, some masterpieces of head hopping, live under her bed. She loved them all.

Today she’s combined her love of scuba diving with her love of writing to create a new series, the second book releasing this month: Death by Sunken Treasure.

My name is not Kait.

Nope, I’m not going to share my real name. There’s a reason I don’t use it in my writing. Oh, I’m nobody famous. That’s what most people think. If an author uses a pen name, either she writes in multiple genres (think JD Robb/Nora Roberts) or she’s famous and trying to hide her identity (think JK Rowling). Wait, that’s a lot of initials. Hum, maybe I should opt for a new pen name. KD Carson? Nah.

Kait Carson is legacy of my first book, Zoned for Murder. Shakespeare knew his stuff when he wrote the famous line in Henry VI, ”The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Or as I tell my boss, there’s a reason for all those lawyer jokes. In Zoned, the first victim was a lawyer. And I work for a, what do you call a group of lawyers? A murder would be appropriate, but that’s reserved for crows. Passel? Not sinister enough, but it will have to do. I work for a passel of lawyers. Now I’ve written a book where I’ve killed one. My beta readers spent more time trying to figure out who the cast might be in real life then giving me feedback on the book. It turned into a cottage industry.

The truth is the book is fiction. I killed no lawyers I knew, had heard or, or read about. I killed a figment of my imagination. And that corrupt law firm he worked for? Well, that wasn’t the same firm I worked for, or any firm I’d ever heard of, but an awful lot of people thought it was. When my boss read the book, he took me aside and said, “Kait, they’re going to think this is me. So, to protect my boss, and my firm, and to stop the questions…I became Kait Carson. Now I can slay lawyers with impunity.

In addition to giving me the freedom to write about lawyers, and the legal system as I do in my Hayden Kent books, Death by Blue Water and Death by Sunken Treasure, I made another discovery about having a pen name. This one quite useful. Kait and I have a similar resume. What you read about Kait in the bio section of my books and on social media is true and correct. Except, Kait’s younger. I like that. And she’s brave. I am a jellyfish coward when it comes to personal appearances, putting myself forward, marketing, the bugaboo of authorship in the twenty-first century, scares the heck out of me.

Kait loves to talk. She likes nothing better than standing before a group of people fielding questions and talking about her books. We share dyslexia so neither of us like to read at these events, but public speaking. Piece of cake. Give her a microphone and she’ll go all day. Radio shows, no problem. She’ll charm the host and have him eating out of her hand in no time. Kait is not me. While I like public speaking, it better be about a topic other than me. I’m useless when it comes to thinking on my feet. Mine is the way of the plodder, I’m not witty, fun, or particularly sparkly. Kait is.

Since Kait and I also happen to share a body, and are relatively sane, none of this makes a lot of sense. As Dolly Parton famously said, “People think I’m a dumb blonde. I know I’m not dumb, and I also know that I’m not blonde.” Well, in my case, I know I’m not Kait, and I also know that she doesn’t exist. Not in the birth certificate sense of exist. Except…When I have go out on the road, appear at bookstores or conferences, meet book clubs in libraries, I slip behind the façade and become Kait. I gave her all the qualities I wish I had and the wishing made it so.

It’s fun to tap into another part of your personality. To be able to set your fears aside and have a great time without second guessing yourself. In that sense, Kait exists. Really, she does, but…

I am not Kait.

Death by Sunken Treasure

When Hayden Kent’s mentor and friend discovers her son Mike’s dead body, dressed in full scuba attire, washed up on Pigeon Key, she needs Hayden. Her paralegal and dive skills may help unravel the tragedy of Mike’s last days. He’d recently discovered a sunken Spanish galleon and rumors that he hit the mother lode ran through the Keys like wild fire.

Hayden’s dive on the treasure site uncovers gold, and clues that Mike’s death was something far more sinister than an accident. When two different wills, both signed the day Mike died, are delivered to the courthouse, the suspect list grows, as do the treats against her. The danger escalates as she tries to save herself, discover the motive, and find the killer.

Kait and I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to leave a message.

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About Evelyn Cullet

I write mystery romance and romantic suspense novels. I’m an avid organic gardener, and I play the piano. I have a spoiled Black Lab mix., Bailey, whom I adore. Visit my blog every Monday to discover new authors and their novels at: http://evelyncullet.com/blog/

I love learning something new about you in each blog. May Kait Carson continue for years and years; I love Hayden and just met Katherine and want more! Thank you for the wonderful characters, all three of them. lol (Yes, I know the writer does not count as a character but I really became fascinated reading about you but I promise only to stalk book blog.)

Thanks, Jeanie! I’m glad you like learning these tidbits. I always wonder if I’m going too far…can you tell I’ve heard that before. What’s most amazing to me is that when I write, I become Kait, and I enjoy the variety. Glad you’ve been introduced to Ms. Swope – she’s a lot of fun to write and a lady with quite a past.